Cops: Body found in ship canal was man who fled fatal crash

Carlos SadoviTribune reporter

A man's body found in the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal on Monday belonged to a 23-year-old man who had been involved in a single car accident that killed another man over the weekend, officials said.

An autopsy conducted today determined that Marcus Durdin of the 1600 block of South St. Louis Avenue died of multiple injuries caused from an automobile accident, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office.

Durdin's body was found on the 4000 block of South Cicero Avenue on the Southwest Side at 11:30 a.m. Monday, police said.

Chicago police officials today determined that the man had been an occupant of a white Ford Taurus that crashed into a bridge and flipped over on July 2 at about 2:49 a.m., police said. The accident happened on the same block in which Durdin's body was found.

Pipers Wells, 33, of the 1000 block of North Massasoit Avenue was killed in the crash. Witnesses told investigators that the car was travelling as fast as 100 mph before veering off the side of the road and crashing against the bridge, police said.

Witnesses also told investigators that they saw someone fleeing the scene, police said at the time.